31 July 2011

Le Petit Soldat



Le Petit Soldat is a film made in 1960 but not shown in France until 1963, because of the content dealing with the conflict in Algeria between the French colonialists and the Algerian people wanting independence, the independence they got in 1962.
The film also openly discuss the use of torture in the war between these two countries, a method neither country admitted having used, though they both used these methods in order to get vital information about the counterpart.

One of the main characters, Bruno Forestier (Michel Subor) tries to flee the enlistment in France but the French intelligence forces him to work for them and they want him to kill a member of the FLN, just to prove that he is not a double agent, something the authorities are assuming.
He hesitates and in the meantime he meets a woman by the name of Veronica Dreyer (Anna Karina), a collaborator to FLN.
When falling in love with her he agrees to kill the member of FLN and in return he wants the French to guarantee him and Veronica free passage to Brazil where they can hide.
Unfortunately for them, the French discover her connections to the FLN and torture her to death. Before this Bruno also became tortured by the Algerian resistance movement.

The film also discusses other meta-philosophical issues and not least war, the responsibility even in war to stick to certain rules and regulations concerning the treatment of prisoners etc.

One also discuss 'the truth' (whatever that is) and how the truth can be captured by the still camera but even more so by the film camera, whereby the meta question about the nature of cinema and its purpose is discussed and this is partly expressed in the famous phrase uttered by Bruno:
"La photographie, c'est la vérité, et le cinéma, c'est vingt-quatre fois la vérité par seconde" in English: "Photography is truth, and cinema is truth 24 times per second".
In this phrase one can scent the question about cinema as provoking the truth in society by posing the questions noone wants to pose and this through words, music and the image or images.
Godard wants to point out that film is much more important than just one and a half or two hours of entertainment and that the cinema deals with important human questions, not discussed in public or in society as a whole, not the way the cinema can talk about or display it.
The issues are both hidden and manifest if one can read the cinema in a more deepened, profound way.

Actors, besides the above mentioned: Henri-Jacques Huet and Paul Beauvais among others.


(Photo Anna Karina on the poster copoied from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndC1bfNRJ-JHfr8E3OntxDYh3JVtkM_SB7KOtXmTW0XcVAnN_3Gas7WYQ7wzHo_PScfb0A7tLCl-a9aPG68_gFd2meDLcWz6TS6kf8jK9EOecg8iDF0QgFuPLIx_51rWErrwP/s1600/7352265360_Le_Petit_Soldat_1963_Jean_Luc_GODARD.jpg)
(Photo Michel Subor copied from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-PO2D7SnWNKsxZTvTlnt_I8gkVKFZrsZWp4ldGVXi3HCr1FitG1HtSEX6fhwFFFAxCj_F1dVgVkaEIcDdLsFDkJXydtnt0QG_9Rw8-eJLuwvZd4LELfOwRAXwfdUUItM06T1N/s1600/Le+Petite+Soldat+-2010-10-25-01h53m48s128.jpg)
(Photo shower-torture-scene copied from: http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/jc50.2008/PetitSoldatDenis/ClaireDenisJCimages/cap433.jpg)

29 July 2011

Duck Soap


Another Marx film and it's not about Karl.

In this film Groucho plays the character (of weak character?) Rufus T. Firefly, a man not taking life so seriously but yet being appointed president and even dictator over a country called Freedonia.
This country is bankrupt and the wealthy Mrs Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), having tried to save it with her money, has now had enough.
Of course things don't get better when Groucho and his brothers Chico and Harpo appear, instead the country becomes engaged in war against the neighbouring country Sylvania.
This war more or less caused by some stupid quarrels between Firefly and that countries 'foreign minister' if remembering correctly, where they constantly misunderstand each other or maybe not.

As always there are a lot of running out and in through doors or the brothers doing other bizarre things but it must be said that the one always lifting the jokes above the ordinary gags is Groucho. Without him it wouldn't always hold the high standard they actually reach - sometimes.
The absurdities are of course the best part and not least is this visible after launching the war between the two countries and here Groucho excels.

27 July 2011

Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows, part 2


"It all ends" it says on the poster but what ends? The life of Harry or of Lord Voldemort or both?
We thought Harry would die but of course he doesn't and now we'll see what kind of sequels the future will bring us. Maybe with the son, a 'resurrected' Voldemort, or Harry taking on his quest for other goals in his 'wizardly' life or maybe - as have been said - the story about the 'normal' Harry before he became 'super' Harry?

Aurore and I have seen all but two (or maybe three) among the film adaptations of J. K. Rowling's novels and we find the two first ones being the best, as they display the beginning of the saga when everything is new and fresh and the young apprentices are going to learn how to behave as sorcerer's.
The following films try to outflank the previous ones when it comes to effects or rivals being more and more dangerous and mighty but doesn't contribute to a deeper understanding of neither Harry nor his friends or opponents.

We both prefer the film adaptations of Narnia as that story contains a sharp 'boundary' between the 'real' life and the 'fantastic'.
In Harry Potter the story halts somewhat as Harry and his friends sometimes seem able to conquer all and everything with their magic rods sometimes not being able to do anything at all in similar situations. Sometimes they fear nothing, sometimes they are afraid of everything and when it comes to Harry he is well aware of that he is one of the mightiest sorcerers (wizards), so why does he have to be so chicken?
Of course one can argue that this is made in such a way in order to make it easier for children and adolescents to identify themselves with the characthers, as we humans sometimes are cowards and sometimes brave but I prefer Pippi Longstocking and her fearless attitude.

Now we've seen the end (so far) and I'm not sure that the following films - as I guess Rowlings haven't lost the quest for more money and therefore will continue making it possible to go on with the show - will turn out being more interesting than these.
Director: David Yates.

26 July 2011

Les Carabiniers


This film by Jean-Luc Godard, displays the stupidity and cruelty with war (not unique per se) but on the whole, the stupidity of mankind, the quest for ecocentric goals, no matter the consequences for others: Exitus acta probat.

We get to meet two poor men and their women, being almost beseiged by soldiers - 'carabiniers' - who exhort them to join the army and fight in the ongoing war, somewhere and nowhere.
In order to persuade them, the soldiers show them a letter written by the king, promising the men riches, like a pool, Maseratis (car), women and everything else they want (but not need).
The two 'light-headed' young men let themselves be inrolled in the army, leaving their women behind.
Devoting themselves to the killing, the plundering and all the other atrocities implied in a war, they send their two waiting women post cards, displaying all the beauty in the world in all the different places they visit.
Their women at home are not as fidel as the young men presume and when the men return, they want to see all the riches and money they have earned during their 'crusade' but all they have is a suitcase with even more post cards. They hereby display the riches of the world, on the same time being as poor as when they left. However, the officers have promised that the day they see fireworks in the sky, it's the signal that the war is over and that they are going to be paid.
One day the fireworks are visible and they all head towards the town, just to find that the king's men have lost and that the enemies now are going to execute those fighting on his side and the execution of the two men ends the film.

On the whole this is not such an impressive film but I think though that in all its simplicity it takes on the atrocities of war, as good as any other more elaborate war film. It displays the violence in a more stylistic way but on the same time very effective, making the film viewers feel as disgusted as if the cruelties had been shown in a more detailed fashion.
It's a chamber play but as such quite interesting, when asking important questions about why people decide to do what they do and if we have a free will, on the same time criticizinig the consumer society, in the end killing the humans (physically or mentally).
The four young main characters also bear the mythic names of: Ulysses, Michel-Ange, Venus and Cleopatre.

Actors: Marino Masé, Patrice Moullet, Geneviève Galéa, Catherine Ribeiro among others.

21 July 2011

Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde


This is one of the first adaptations for screen of Robert Louis Stevenson's book with the same name. In 1908 a film was made by Otis Turner, 1910 August Blom, the Danish director, made an adaptation in Danish called 'Den Skæbnesvangre Opfindelse', 1912 Lucius Henderson directed another version and in 1913 Herbert Brenon and (the more famous), producer Carl Laemmle made their contributions.

Most of you know the story around the scientist who tries to unveil the 'darker' sides of humanity and in doing so, more and more alienates himself from his more 'civilized' (a rather ambiguous) or less violent persona.
Stevensons's story was written during a period when the discoveries and questionable 'progresses' within science was becoming hotly debated and the questions concerning whether or not man had the ambition to become God came to the surface.
The book and the adaptations for film, do also use some psychological material even though the works by the 'Godfather' Sigmund Freud hadn't reach universal fame. We do have different 'characters' or 'natures' within us, fighting to uphold a certain equilibrium, not least towards the 'world' around us. These ideas where by no means invented by Freud or Jung and their disciples, on the contrary, the different personas in our human nature is something having been dealt with in theatres and literature from antiquity up till now.
To reconnect to to the above notion about 'civilized' or not: What is it being civilized and what is the difference between being civilized or only governed by social rules in a society and is this always desirable?

In this film we see one of the foremost actors of the time, John Barrymore, creating the double character and in doing so we find some theatrical manners but as a whole it's quite a nice and sometimes - because of the theatrical acting - rather humourous film.

19 July 2011

Teorema


Pier Paolo Pasolini has directed this film, dealing - of course - with sexuality, often supressed dito and the consequences or edificatory effects of letting them loose, if this is the theme.

The action takes place in a high class or bourgeois family, being visited by a stranger, a young man who seduces them all, beginning with the bigoted maid, the sensitive son on his way to discover his sexuality, the mother being a sexually frustrated woman, the tormented father and finally (or in between) the timid daughter.
All of a sudden the young man disappears and this creates a cathartic reaction among all the family members leading them into different circumstances in life.
The mother seeks consolation with young men, the son becomes an artist after having left the home, the daughter becomes catatonic, the father gives away his factory to his workers, strips himself of everything and wanders naked into the wilderness. The maid finally becomes a 'miracle maker' in the rural town where she was born.

The obvious 'meaning' (if there is such a thing) in the film is of course to display that the bourgeois life is a false one, delusional, filled of deceit and dishonesty, not recognizing the inner needs of the different characters, just displaying a 'normative' societal family behaviour seen from the horizon of the overbridging moral structures of that very society. This seen also from the point that Pasolini - the poor errant soul - was a communist.
Into this family comes the 'redeemer' who deliver the 'true' nature of the psychological, mental structures and persona of each and every family member.

Some see it as a critic towards the consumer society this family represents and how the events in the film makes them see above and beyond this narrow way of life.
Others again look at the film from the angle of the title, referring to that it's a word derived from the greek θεώρημα, meaning 'spectacle', 'intuition' but also 'theorem' as within mathematics.
As a 'spectacle' it can be seen meaning a film, a piece of work where we are spectators.
On the same time the family are spectators when looking at and devouring the young stranger both visually and - subsequently - physically.
The intuitional part could be perceived as the release of the intuitional way of life that becomes the 'trade mark' of the future life - or lives - of this family. They follow the intuitional calling when reevaluating their lives.
A theorem in mathematics is something derived out of different axioms and when those axioms are made into one theorem or more the theorems lead up to a theory. This process can be reversed.
In this sense we can see a threefold development in the film by some caracterized as being devided into: 'Seduction', 'confession' and 'transformation'. The young man seduce (the family members are being seduced), the family members confess directly or indirectly to him their inner fealings and finally their lives are transformed. In this way one can of course find similarities to Jesus Christ or any other religious leader throughout history: 'Veni' (I come and seduce people), 'vidi' (I see and listen to them), vici' (I change their life in one way or another).

Again others point at the fact that Pasolini wanted to display himself as a film theorist building up this film - not only concerning the plot - in using a documentary opening where Pasolini asks the workers at the factory some question concerning the fact that they are given the factory by the father in the family, then moving on to the behind the curtain fictional scenes leading up to this decision, using different filmic technics (like sepia colour etc), moving on to a more 'fantastic' way of looking at the events as if their had been a miracle or maybe the opposite depending on how one see the changes taking place in front of our eyes.

Even if the family members are being inhibited in their life - not only sexually - one can ask oneself if e.g. the transformation of mental status of the young girl in the family, making her catatonic or if the son, certainly becoming a painter, but becoming obsessed with pictures of the 'redeemer' could be said being an improvement of their lives.
The mother seeking young men ressembling the young man, the maid being seen as a woman able to perform miracles but wanting to be burried alive, could their lives be seen as having been improved?
Within the family the father is perhaps the one having found his true calling but on the same time we know that the society won't accept his way of living for long, before being taken care of by psychiatry.
As a matter of fact, seen from this perspective not one single member of this family would normally be able to stay out of psychiatric treatment, as they by the civil society will be seen as 'nuts', not least the maid, the daughter, the son, the father and in the end the mother too, as her way of living will lead to a 'mental burnout' sooner or later. This might be the message from Pasolini:
The way of living within the bourgeois family is so artificial that it will lead to mental ill-health sooner or later.

On the other hand, a redemption might not be the same as an improvement of your former life, it might be the contrary and what we mean by improvement might also differ from individual to individual.

Finally the plot is so thin and the symbolic implications so superficial that I find it more likely that Pasolini rather wanted to make a film displaying - as mentioned above - himself as a film theorist.

Actors: Silvana Mangano, Terence Stamp, Massimo Girotti and Laura Betti among others.

17 July 2011

Rencontres Internationales des Luthiers et Maîtres Sonneurs: A résumé

Below selected photos from the festival at Château d'Ars:

The two photos below show where Aurore and I worked at the entrance.
Far right (photo just below) you can catch a glimpse of Aurore (or her profile)

The inmarsch with musicians during the first day.
One of the musicians playing on his nose as you can see.
This is a well known musician, whos name we don't remember.
What we do remember is that he is or was the teacher
of René Villeneuve who won the soloist cornemuse competition.

Below we see Baluji Classic Trio



Below Balkan Brass Band, playing at the entrance
during the opening day of the festival.

Below 'La Machine' (with Grégory Jolivet among others)

Below 'The Crazy Swedes'



The three photos below 'La Bouttine Souriante'




Below: 'Hommage à Jean-Louis Boncoeur'

















Rencontres Internationales des Luthiers et Maîtres Sonneurs Scène Ouverte, Garizim

Garizim is - as you must know by now if you have followed what we have been writing on the blog - the music group, consisting of Johannes Geworkian Hellman (hurdy-gurdy/vielle), Elias Frigård (saxophone) and Jordi Carrasco Hjelm (contrabass) and below you find them on the list of groups who played at the so called 'Open Stages' during the festival ('vendredi 15/Friday 15th).

I know however that their ambition is to perform as one of the major 'acts' during next years festival (2012).





(Photo copied from: http://www.garizim.se/nyheter.html)

16 July 2011

Palmarès du concours solistes 2011

Our friend Johannes Geworkian Hellman, is a very competent hurdy-gurdy musician but he is never pleased with his playing or his performances.
Therefore it took some time for him to decide whether or not to participate in the competition for hurdy-gurdy's. Finally he did and what happened? He won of course!
Below the announcement of the laureates and after this photos and a video displaying Johannes with his instrument.

Below the video, you find a photo of Rémy Villeneuve, who won the cornemuse-competition.



Here he is in our car, happy to be in France and on his way to Château d'Ars:

In these pictures he is trying different hurdy-gurdy's from different manufacturers:




















As a musician you must also give yourself the chance to romance 'un peu'
In this photo we see a young, charming woman by the name of Cassandre and Johannes.
She is a very competent musician but also skilled in most folk dances.
She is doing research on folk music and she speaks four-five languages:

Below the video displaying Johannes playing for the audience after having won the competition.
The quality is not the best as it's recorded with our iPhone:



René Villeneuve (above),
evidentally talking with his fiancée
as he has such a dreaming look
on his face!